Visiting us from Germany, Keynote Speaker Professor Kraemer will deliver three presentations – ranging from the clinical to delivering futurist insight.
Prof. Kramer obtained his PhD from the University of Erlangen in 1997. Between 2006 and 2009 he was the head of the Department of Paediatric Dentistry in Dresden. In 2009 he was appointed to the director of the Policlinic of Paediatric Dentistry at the University of Gießen. He served as President of the GSPD from 2000-2004, and again during 2015-2019. He served as President of the EAPD from 2008-2014. He was on the IAPD Board of Directors from 2017-2020. He is currently on the Editorial Board of several peer-reviewed journals, and he has published ca. 170 research papers/books/articles (Research Gate Score: 38.04; H-index 43).
Don’t miss this opportunity to learn from the collective experience of the Reconnext 2023 faculty of speakers, as they share their insights into delivering world-leading clinical studies and treatments.
Advocating on key matters of concern to Specialists in Paediatric Dentistry in order to improve standards of care in children’s oral health.
A/Prof Michelle Telfer MBBS (Hons) FRACP is a Paediatrician and Adolescent Medicine Physician and is Director of the Department of Adolescent Medicine at The Royal Children’s Hospital (RCH) Melbourne. She is also the Director of the RCH Gender Service and has been instrumental in developing and expanding clinical and research programs amidst rising demand for trans-specific health care in children and adolescents. As an advocate for improved access to medical treatment, Michelle was central to the achievement of federal legal reform and her efforts have led to transgender young people now being able to access hormone and surgical treatment without the need for approval by the Family Court of Australia.
Professor Cornelis received her dental degree (1999) and her postgraduate specialist degree in orthodontics (2003) from the University of Louvain, in Brussels. In 2010, she finished a two-year degree in lingual orthodontics at the Université Descartes (Paris).
Between 2009 and 2014, she was Assistant Professor at the Department of Orthodontics of the University of Geneva. From 2014 to 2020, she was Associate Professor and Postgraduate Program Director of the Section of Orthodontics, Department of Dentistry, Aarhus University, and in 2015 she became Head of Section. Throughout, she maintained an active orthodontic practice in Geneva. In 2021, Marie became Professor and Head of Orthodontics at the Melbourne Dental School.
Her research interests are focused on clinical orthodontics, mainly skeletal anchorage, digital workflows and stability/retention.
Alastair obtained his BSc in Biomedical Sciences from the University of Wales in 1993 and his PhD in Oral Biology and Pathology from Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry at The University of Birmingham, UK in 1997. Following postdoctoral research, he was appointed Lecturer in Oral Biology at the School of Dentistry, The University of Birmingham in 2000. He was Head of Oral and Biomedical Sciences at the School of Dentistry between 2010-2015, Director of International (2012-2015) and Director of Research (2015-2017). Between 2015-2017 he was Director of the Cardiff Institute for Tissue Engineering and Repair (CITER).
He was appointed Head of School in 2017, a post which he held until January 2020 when he relocated to The University of Melbourne to take up his present role as Head of School of the Melbourne Dental School.
Alastair’s research is in the broad field of mineralised connective tissues. He is interested in the reparative potential and behaviour of the dentine-pulp complex and bone – specifically the potential therapeutic manipulation of the dental pulp stem cells (DPSCs).
Dr. Balvindar Kaur is a staff anaesthetist and co-supervisor of fellowship training at the Royal Children’s Hospital Melbourne. After completing her FANZCA, she moved to Canada in 2011 spending a year as a postgraduate fellow in transplant and regional anaesthesia at Vancouver General Hospital. Here, she published and presented extensively at major international meetings. She completed further postgraduate training in paediatric anaesthesia at the Alberta Children’s Hospital, Calgary working as a locum consultant anaesthetist before returning to Australia in late 2013. She regularly commits 2-4 weeks annually as an anaesthetist on international missions. She is also an instructor at the National Course in Airway Training (NATCAT), Australian and New Zealand Specialist Airway Course (ANZSAC), and the current chair of the SPANZA Education Subcommittee.
Her main interests are anaesthesia for ENT surgery and the difficult airway, and craniofacial surgery.
Dr Alcaino is a specialist paediatric dentist currently working in private practice and a past president of the International Association of Paediatric Dentistry (IAPD). He spent over 10 years on the board of directors within the IAPD. In 2016 he completed a Masters of International Business/Law at the University of Sydney.
Dr Alcaino was born in Santiago, Chile. He migrated to Sydney in 1983, where he continued his studies. After completing his Bachelor degree with honours (BDS-Hons) at the University of Sydney, he worked in general dental practice for eight years and has been involved in teaching since graduation. Dr Alcaino is a Clinical Associate Lecturer with the University of Sydney and a visiting specialist to the Westmead Centre for Oral Health (WCOH). After completing his thesis in general anaesthesia and further training in conscious sedation, he has lectured extensively on sedation and general anaesthesia in the field of paediatric dentistry.
Dr John Sheahan was awarded BDSc in 1983 and later MDSc by The University of Melbourne. He has been Senior Registrar in Paediatric Dentistry at both Westmead Hospital and the Royal Children’s Hospital. For many years, John was a clinical demonstrator, and he is still periodically involved in teaching and examining postgraduate dental students for The University of Melbourne. A Fellow of RACDS in the Special Stream of Paediatric Dentistry since 2005, each year the College invites him to lecture to Victorian final year dental students. He is a Fellow of the International College of Dentists and the Pierre Fauchard Academy, and an Associate Fellow of the Australasian College of Health Service Management. In 2020, the Australian Dental Council accredited him as an Assessor of University Dental Education Programs.
John has advocated vociferously for paediatric patients, the specialty and profession. He has served on many state, national and international dental committees and he is the longest-serving Past Federal President of ANZSPD. His advocacy has seen the importance of maintaining access by dental patients to general anesthesia acknowledged in new and existing ADA policy documents and in Australia’s National Oral Health Plan. Moreover, his long-tern advocacy resulted in the Senate Inquiry recommending that private health insurance funds meet urgently with hospitals and paediatric dentists to negotiate sensible payments to hospitals for insured patients.
John’s early experience working for Dental Health Services Victoria, and a Graduate Diploma in Health Administration completed in 1991, taught him to be wary of “the devil in the detail” of written guidelines. With this background, John first expressed his concern about the wording of PS09 (2010) soon after its publication. John’s passion for eliminating the problems with the wording of PS09 was rewarded by RACDS in 2018 when he was appointed the College’s representative in ANZCA’s Document Development Group.
Peter graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in Dentistry (Honours) in 1985 and subsequently a Master’s Degree in Paediatric Dentistry in 1991 from the University of Sydney. Peter commenced Canberra Paediatric Dentistry in Deakin in 1992. He has also completed a Juris Doctor degree from the University of Canberra and was admitted as a lawyer in the Supreme Court of the ACT in 2019. In recent times, he has held the position of Chair of the ACT Dental Board, and has served on AHPRA. Peter’s interests in dentistry are varied with particular emphasis on management of trauma, dental anomalies and dental sedation.